Finished: Madness at The Race

The Race is a shallow area in Long Island Sound, located off the western tip of Fishers Island.  Here, the tides “race” in and out very swiftly.  About a half mile from the west end of Fishers Island is a granite outcropping called Race Rock, now marked by the famous Race Rock Lighthouse, built in the 1870’s.

Race Rock Light also marks one of the best fishing grounds for bluefish and striped bass in New England.  Everyone who fishes in the southeastern Connecticut waters knows about The Race, and everyone remembers their first fishing trip to The Race.  For many of us, the reaction was “this can’t be real”.

Imagine that you are in a fishing boat, the engine cut to idle, your line stretching out as the boat drifts in the swift current.  You’re not paying attention to where the boat is actually going - that’s the captain’s job, right?  Suddenly, the boat starts rocking slightly, then more, then you turn around and surprise!  Not too far away from what you just drifted through (flat water), the tidal rip is building to waves of 4 - 6 feet - in certain seasons, with a full moon, perhaps even higher. Startled, you look around to discover that people are running their boats out of the rip, back into the flat water, pretty much the way they drive their vehicles on Interstate-95.  Apparently, you are the only person here who thinks this is at all alarming – the process is being repeated, drift/run back – over and over, by every single boat, including your boat.

As far as anyone can remember, it was always that way.

 You'll notice that there are no new boats in this painting. That's because my primary interest is vintage wooden boats. The boats in Madness at The Race range from the late 1940s through the 1950s to one very early fiberglass boat, late 1960s.